


Forlorn Soup

by twilightstarr



Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: (canon) self harm warning, Angst, Backstory, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Titania's family headcnons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 11:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9720902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilightstarr/pseuds/twilightstarr
Summary: Between the death of Elena and the plot of Path of Radiance. One evening, Greil and Titania both notice that the other is troubled.





	

A nearly full bowl of soup lay forlorn on the table, growing cold. All was cleaned up in the kitchen save for it. Its fellow bowls and spoons were washed and put away, their consumers warm and satisfied. Every so often, as twilight darkened, a left hand would give the spoon a halfhearted stir in the effort to find an appetite, but it was futile. 

This kitchen and the adjacent living room were much as they had been not long ago when it was an ideal family that had resided the house, but a few differences revealed change. The silent newcomer made almost as little a trace as he did a sound; his giveaway was the handful of magical texts in the bottom corner of the bookshelf. As for the long term visitor that had been holding the home and family together in their recent loss, a pile of blankets, folded to the side at the moment, had become her guest bed, the proper one already given to the orphan boy. She had made no comment of it, much less a complaint. 

At this moment, her voice could be heard softly from the bedroom of the little boy and girl, singing their mother’s song. The girl knew it by heart now, yet all the same could not sleep until it was song to her.  
Though still glum from time to time, the children were able by now to carry on with life, but their father lingered in an abyss of depression. 

The girl had grown as attached to her mother’s necklace as she had to its song. How ironic, even a little disturbing, that the object responsible for the tragic incident gave her the strength to accept it. 

Mist had no idea of the level of havoc and destruction that bronze medallion could wreak. Neither had Greil until he saw it, through his own eyes, but outside his own mind. Underestimating the medallion was the most grievous of his many heavy regrets. It was one thing to lose Elena; it was another to have murdered her after a dozen other innocents. That was something Ike and Mist did not need to know, so long as Mist kept the medallion safe within her balanced aura that it could not corrupt. The way she treasured it, however unsettling, would help protect it from the wrong hands. 

Titania, bearing a candle as it was growing dark enough for one, entered the kitchen. “Are you trying to starve yourself?” she asked upon one glance at the poor, languishing bowl, as full as it was the last time she’d seen it. Even in the dimness of dusk, the one ray of candlelight glowed like fierce, viridian wind magic in her eyes. 

“I did try. I’m sorry,” Greil apologized. Wasting her benevolence was a poor way to show how grateful he was for it. 

Discerning his sincerity, Titania couldn’t be perturbed, though she remained worried. There was something rigid about her movements as she picked up the bowl that suggested she was even more troubled than normal. 

“If I have been taxing your patience, I apologize for that as well.” 

“Greil… think nothing of that. I can only imagine the weight of such remorse. If it takes you all year—or throughout the next even—to regain your strength, I will still be here.” 

“I cannot afford that long, but thank you very much, Titania.” 

“You’re very welcome.” Though she smiled, her stance still seemed tense as she put away the last dish. 

“What is amiss?” Greil asked. 

Titania took a deep breath while closing the cupboard. “I suppose I must tell you sooner or later, or Ranulf will. There’s been some lurking around the border. We found out today after one of the scouts was caught that they are Daein. A friend of mine was with this unit and suspects they may know something about what has happened.” 

It was Greil’s turn to take a deep breath. He didn’t want to believe this, but the senses of a beast Laguz were often right. “How would they know? Who would’ve passed that information to them?”

“I don’t know. It may be a different matter entirely, but I worry.” She and her candle returned to the table. “What should we do about this? Are we going to leave?” 

In thought, it took Greil a second to realize something about the last sentence. “We? Titania, I don’t expect you to leave your home and position here for us.” 

“I know. I’ve already thought about this and made up my mind that I will go with you if you leave Gallia. I care too much for you, and Ike, Mist, and Soren, to reach any other decision. Besides, I’m technically still a Crimean knight. If we go to Crimea, some explaining should be the only complication to my job. I should be able to have you added to my unit as well, if you’d want.” Obviously, she had not only thought this decision through, but also its execution and probably this explanation. 

“Again, thank you Titania. I’m much better off with your company than without it, and I’m certain my children feel the same. If it comes down to it, we will go to Crimea. Will you let me know if anything escalates with this issue at the border?” 

“Of course. I will stay alert.”

By now, the sky was black, and the only remaining light was the flickering amber of the candle and the faintest silver of moonlight near the windows. It gave Greil a dread. He would need sleep soon, and that had been restless and nightmarish lately. 

“How did you, married to military service, become such a natural with children?” Greil had been wondering about this, and what better time to ask than as a distraction from dwelling on the inevitable. 

“I still have a family. Haven’t I mentioned Beth, my sister?”

“Once or twice, I believe.” 

“Only once or twice? I suppose I can see why it would appear I don’t care much for family. We used to be very close, but now all we see of each other are letters. I used to play with her children, my niece and nephew, Daisy and Nathaniel. They were adorable. “Tia” they called me, just as Ike and Mist do. It caught on, and Beth and her husband started calling me that too.” Titania laughed at the sweet memories. “They’d always convince me to tell them extra bedtime stories when I stayed there. They loved stories. Their favorites are still engraved on the inside of my head. Oh, pardon me, I digress terribly.” 

“No, they sound like a nice family. I’m glad to know of them,” Greil replied, noticing, as it felt strange, that he smiled. 

“Yes indeed.” Titania flicked away a tear. “It feels no different here. Ike, Mist, Soren, they’re family to me.”

“Titania, you do understand though… no one will replace Elena. You’ve become a part of this family, but I can’t feel the same way about you, and I don’t want to feel that again.” 

“I understand. I have no expectation of that. I’m content as long as I can look after all of you.” She stood from the seat to his right to hug him. She noticed his slight flinch despite the dark when she put pressure on his right arm and the dominance of his inconvenient left as he returned the gesture. “What’s wrong with your arm?” she asked, and then added in a quieter, but more menacing tone, “and why were you trying to hide it?” 

Greil had counted on having until they next sparred to solidify his story for that. It was foolish to underestimate Titania’s acuity. “I…” the pressure of her potent stare didn’t allow for much invention of careful wording or euphemism, a talent Greil lacked as it was. “I hired an assassin to kill me if I ever lose my mind to the medallion again. He’d heard of my… past identity, and he only felt he could achieve this if I were unable to wield Ragnell.” 

As expected, Titania didn’t react calmly. “But—but Greil, this is madness!”

“Sleeping children,” Greil reminded her.

To that she clenched her fists. 

“It’s not madness. The very last thing in this world I want is for it to be up to Mist to stop me if that happens. Ragnell is recognizable anyway, and with yet another regret it reminds me of, I won’t miss it. Really, holding it makes me sick. I should be able to manage axes once it heals, and I’ve already taken potions for that. You don’t have to worry about me.” 

“I... understand,” Titania conceded. “But I still think this is… extreme, and it does worry me that it’s so easy for you to harm yourself.” 

He couldn’t deny that she had a fair point there. “That won’t happen again… I promise.” 

“All right, I trust your word,” she decided with some consideration. 

As the tension dissolved, drowsiness settled in, and the two soon said good night. 

Not long after, more conflict with Daein followed, and they made haste to Crimea.


End file.
